Chương 128: The Overlord of Crime (12)

The room was so quiet that Simon could hear the stark noise of the fireplace cracking. No servant came to serve them wine or food, no wind blew against the window outside, and the man in front of him—if he was a man at all—produced no noise to speak of. Simon was starting to wonder if he even breathed. He sat down next to Verney at the table, his fingers steepling and ready to fire off a spell at the first sign of danger.

Simon didn't think his host would have brought him here this way if he had wished to fight, but one could never know with the Cobweb…

"You seem unsettled, Your Majesty," Count Verney said calmly.

"What bothers you? My abode's air? The doorway in your office?" Everything.

"I admit I was wondering if you were the Prince of Spiders."

"You flatter me, Your Majesty, but I am no prince of thieves. Do you think I would trust someone like Silk with the Crab crystal if I were?" Verney's smile was so simple and yet so unnerving.

"It's a cunning trick she has pulled, isn't it? That whole princely charade." Simon's eyes widened slightly as the implications hit him like a hammer to the face.

"You don't mean–""The talking statue is such an insidious con," Verney said.

"All Silk has to do is light up its eyes and put words in its mouth through magic, and everyone suddenly believes in the existence of an unseen mastermind. A wonderful piece of theater, wouldn't you say?" Silk has always been present whenever the statue spoke… and when she had the opportunity to bind Asterion, she tried to enslave it to the Prince of Spiders rather than herself, even though she claims to be plotting betrayal this reign, Simon thought, the pieces falling into place.

Verney has a point, no criminal mastermind would trust a lieutenant with an artifact as powerful as the Crab crystal, even a trusted follower. Unless… unless the lieutenant and its master were one and the same.

"The Prince of Spiders is a mirage, an illusion conjured up by lies and belief," Verney confirmed his suspicions.

"So long as criminals search for a mysterious mastermind behind everything, they fail to see the puppeteer standing right in front of them."

"Which of them holds the Rogue Crestone?" Simon inquired.

"Silk. Her sister Velvet is too impulsive to be trusted with either a Noble Crestone or Zodiac Fiend crystal. She does have enough Assassin levels to take over for her sister should she be incapacitated though." Verney looked away.

"I am sure those two snakes are plotting my demise as we speak. They won't dare to make a direct move to avoid a deadly schism in our organization, but you, as an outsider muscling his way in, will make for a fine dupe."

"Would they even dare to try?" Simon lied, knowing very well they were already plotting it.

"You seem to control the Attic they rely on to maintain their organization."

"Who is the master of the road? The craftsman that built it, or the chariot that rides it each day?" Verney shrugged.

"One of the Rogue's Perks allows them to undo any lock or obstacle. They can force open any seal, bypass any barrier, open any door… including those of my Attic. I am a powerful asset in that I alone can open more doors, but now that I oppose their plans to weaponize the crystals, I am no longer invaluable."

"That's a worrying tale, yet forgive me if I doubt its veracity," Simon said evasively, doing his best not to give any hint of his true intentions and knowledge.

"You reek of the Dark."

"So do you," Verney replied, "Yet I sense it was no more a choice for you than it was for me." Simon scoffed and didn't mince his words.

"What are you, truly? An impostor wearing a dead man's skin? An undead corpse raised by some necromancer after my brother felled you? Is there anything left of the real Verney inside that shell?"

"I have changed, that is true, but my loyalties have not." His hands moved to his tunic and shirt, which he began to undo.

"You are right about one thing though." Verney revealed his bare chest to him, along with the baleful thing enshrined where the heart should have been. Simon blinked in horror as he saw all of his worst suspicions confirmed.

"I did not survive my duel with your brother," Verney admitted. A light purple miasma crystal was embedded in his torso, merged with his flesh and skin in a way far more intimate than Borsh's clockwork contraptions. The baleful symbol of the Twins pulsated on its surface like a bleeding scar. Simon immediately bolted out of his seat in alarm and summoned his mace.

"You are a demonic host?!"

"So you know what these crystals truly are, then," Verney replied calmly. He did not rise from his seat nor strike.

"Please, all I ask is that you listen to my tale. I have no wish to fight, and a pointless battle will only profit the true enemy." Simon's hand gripped his mace tighter.

"You have five minutes."

"Thank you," Verney replied as he put his tunic back on.

"I had found this crystal during an archeological expedition to Muse, in what feels like a lifetime ago. I had been looking for a pre-Doom weapon that would let us defeat Gargauth. Instead, I unearthed an equally terrible evil bound to an elven sword. I took it upon myself to bring it with me to Lore, where I hoped prayers and holy words would eventually purify it."

"I take it the Light didn't show you the way," Simon quipped.

"It did, but I couldn't see it." Verney scowled in slight distaste, though Simon couldn't tell it was because he disdained the Light or the blasphemy.

"The demon would spend many, many years whispering to me, trying to convince me to free it. I refused, of course…"

"Until Louis," Simon guessed.

"You sold your soul to survive."

"It was my most shameful moment," Verney admitted.

"When I lay bleeding on the ground with a hole where my heart should have been, watching your father's armies marching onto Magvolia's royal castle to enslave yet another country… I admit my faith wavered for a brief instant. A void opened within my soul, and the Uncanny Twins flowed in to fill the gap." He rose from his seat and peered through the window. Simon was sorely tempted to strike at his exposed back, but held his hand.

This creature's behavior reminded him so much of Louis, of his brother's unflappable confidence that nothing could truly harm him. Fighting such a monster in its own lair would be suicide, and the man in front of Simon could be a fetch or an illusion on top of everything for all he knew.

"However… while our spirits merged and our memories joined, I realized what I mistook for false promises were genuine pleas," Verney said as he looked at the fog outside.

"The demon inside me had centuries to meditate on its situation. It had grown tired of the endless conflict with men, and wished no more than to live a free existence in luxurious secrecy." Simon stifled his laughter.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"And yet, it is the truth. It revealed to me many dark secrets, including the fact that it was only one archfiend out of thirteen." Verney turned back to face him.

"Mardok himself was one of them, as is the fiend inside the Scales crystal in Bujan."

"So you plan to recruit both of us?" Simon asked with disdain.

"To form an international alliance of Zodiac Fiends to destroy the world?"

"No," Verney replied with utmost seriousness.

"I want us to seal away the other fiends, before it's too late." Huh? Simon blinked in genuine surprise, and remained at a loss for words. What is this?

"That Scales demon, Exodeos, is so mad he would seek to undo the universe if freed," Verney said.

"Others, like Shin-Drazil the Water-Carrier and Asterion the Minotaur, would rain down such destruction that I do not think our planet would survive the resulting chaos." Asterion? That gave Simon pause. Having actually met the archfiend in person and found him to be rather depressed, he struggled to imagine the Minotaur as the destructive type. Then again, he could have been a very different entity prior to centuries of sealing… and Verney doesn't know I met him too.

"And your demonic tenant doesn't want that?" Simon inquired in disbelief. He knew from Asterion that the Zodiac Fiends all pursued different objectives, but only Mardok had been vicious enough to actually sabotage his brethren. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"I told you, it is tired of war and seeks only to hide now," Verney confirmed as he sat back down in his chair.

"When I learned about the other demons, the constant conflict with the Overlord suddenly seemed trivial. I decided I would dedicate all my time and resources to neutralizing this threat, so I allied with the Prince of Spiders to build the organization that would become the Cobweb. Our plan was to infiltrate the darkest corners of society and watch over those who would lust for the Zodiac Fiends' power." That's not what the sisters told me, Simon thought. Which of these three is lying to me?

Or maybe all of them are?

"Was the slavery, drugs, and everything else part of the plan?"

"I won't deny we had to form alliances with unsavory people to expand our network," Verney replied, unflappable.

"You must understand one cannot earn the trust of rogues and criminals without dirtying one's hands, and there are few knights willing to do so. It had to be done." He had a point, considering Simon had been doing the exact same thing to infiltrate the Cobweb, but his words felt hollow somehow.

"You are a powerful noble with connections to the White Unicorn," Simon pointed out, "Why not warn them?"

"First of all, I feared the more people knew about the Zodiac Fiends, then the more fools would covet their power," Verney replied.

"The White Unicorn is a loose coalition focused on fighting the Overlord, and includes as many greedy sellswords, disgruntled royals, and ambitious social climbers as it does valorous heroes; many of whom would use the crystals for evil or misguided purposes." He let out a conspiratorial sigh.

"Moreover… I am certain that the Oracle knows about the Zodiac Fiends, but does little to nothing to stop them. She focuses all of her efforts on stopping the Overlord at the exclusion of all other threats to humanity. Don't you find that suspicious?"

"I do," Simon conceded. He had had his own doubts about the Oracle's plans and strategy, though it didn't change the fact Verney had the means to pursue his goals without creating an international crime ring. Something rings false about him.

"While the suffering the Cobweb inflicted has weighed on my mind, I considered it a fair trade once we found the Crab crystal and managed to contain it in a grimoire…" Verney scowled.

"It was there that I erred the most. The knowledge that the Zodiac Fiends could be bound to serve aroused the sisters' greed. All they want is to claim more of them, heedless of the danger."

"Assuming I believe any word of what you said, why would you tell me this?" Simon had spent enough time in demons' company to understand every single one of them was a wicked creature not to be trusted nor underestimated, even those he had enslaved.

"Why tell me, the Overlord?"

"Because you didn't choose to inherit this Class, did you?" he asked, his tone sharp.

"The power of the Dark was forced upon your soul… and it weighs on you." The count leaned towards his guest.

"You didn't come here to gain levels, but to stop Silk and her kind from misusing the Zodiac Fiends. You knew the Cobweb was looking for them the moment you knocked on our door."

"You are mistaken, Count," Simon replied, though his words had rattled him. This man was as sharp as Louis in some ways.

"You look for signs that aren't there."

"No, I don't think so. I have watched you very closely. While you reserve your cruelty towards the wicked, I sense that there is good in you." Verney smiled back, and this time Simon could see a hint of warmth.

"The Light sees it too, in the way it still grants you prayers when the Overlord's shadows do not block it." If only he knew that favor was born of deceit… or was it? Part of Simon wondered if the favor that the Light Megalith showed him was a reflection of the potential he once had; the seed of heroism that would have led him to become the Paladin had his father not robbed him of his destiny.

"It is a lonely road that we walk, but the power we wield does not define us, however sinister it might be," Verney said with sympathy.

"So to answer your question… I have approached you because I see myself in you. I think that together, we can prevent greater evils from ruining this world which we hold dear." Simon would be lying if Verney's words didn't find an echo within him. He was right that Simon had been saddled with the Overlord Class, and compelled to use its intrinsically cruel powers for the greater good. Part of him wanted to believe that there were others like him, that someone could truly understand his position.

Verney had taken a great risk approaching him, and if Silk was indeed the Prince of Spiders, he could make a formidable ally. The Attic alone would be a priceless resource for all future reigns. However… However, Simon had a nagging feeling there was something wrong with this entire tale. It was partly believable, and some details were likely true, but the way Verney resembled Louis rubbed him the wrong way.

He seemed too detached from humanity in eerie ways, far too much for someone who should claim to care about it. Is there a hole in his story? Simon wondered. Verney hadn't mentioned the inhuman experiments he found in Cocagne, nor how Bert and Chrom Cruak fit into everything. He tried to recall the end of his past reign. Had he missed a detail?

"It shouldn't take this long," Casval had said, right before their final fight.

"It's two of us and a spare vessel against one of those detestable heroes." When the barrier collapsed, Silk was dead, her grimoire destroyed, and a shadowy figure had beheaded Remedia. Simon had never sensed a whiff of Dark coming from Silk, so she was likely the 'spare vessel'… which meant that the other Zodiac Fiend present was–"You said your crystal was bound to a sword?" Simon inquired, a nagging doubt forming in his mind.

"Can you show it to me? I wonder if we could learn how to better seal the Zodiac Fiends from it."

"I fear this would be a waste of time, but if you insist…" Verney waved his hands, a sword appearing from ambient shadows.

"Here." He calmly presented Simon with the very saber that beheaded Remedia. Simon thanked the Light for his foresight in casting Nightveil and putting on the Overlord armor before walking into this room, or else his fury would have shown. He immediately recognized the very same curved, elvish-style saber the shadowy figure who slew Remedia pulled on him at the end of his last reign. Which meant… It's him, Simon thought as he studied the blade, catching Verney's smiling reflection in its edge.

I found your murderer, Remedia. And since he had both allied with a possessed Casval and fought to free the Lion, then he had been lying from start to finish about his motivations. He was no reluctant fiend nor a necessary evil working for the greater good, but a deceitful demon through and through. This wicked monster was insidious. He had immediately spotted Simon's deep-seated desire to use the Overlord Class to save the world, and exploited it.

Verney's speech might even have worked on him had Simon approached the Cobweb in an earlier reign, when he hadn't suffered so many betrayals at their hands. It took Simon all of his self-control not to grip the saber in anger and skewer its wielder where he stood. Whether Verney was the real Prince of Spiders or not was irrelevant. He was a threat, an archfiend in disguise, and an obstacle Simon had to remove before Abraxas arrived to empower him any further. Could Simon take him on?

Certainly not here, within his realm of power, nor without sufficient backup. The mere fact that Verney had fought equally with Louis before he even became a host and then killed Remedia spoke volumes about the power he wielded. A direct confrontation now would end in defeat.

"What's your game?" Simon asked warily.

"You want us to ally against the sisters?" Verney nodded sharply.

"I would like to remove them with as little bloodshed as possible, and especially without causing the Crab to slip through our grasp. Taking them unaware will not be easy. Silk is prudent, careful, suspicious of everything… she will not let herself be taken by surprise."

"Her sister Velvet seems more imprudent," Simon pointed out, with Verney nodding.

"What level are they?"

"Between sixty and seventy, I would assume. The grimoire also allows them to summon a weakened version of the Crab archdemon. They aren't to be underestimated." Verney turned to look at the fireplace.

"I suspect Velvet will convince Silk to bet on you as their dupe, and then they will convince you to work against me. Earn their trust. We will engineer a situation where they think they have won, then catch them unaware in their moment of triumph." Simon had wondered if this was some sort of elaborate test at first, but he was more and more convinced there was indeed a civil war brewing within the Cobweb. Verney likely worked to free his demonic brethren while Silk and her sister wanted to control them for profit.

They had probably worked well in concert until their interests began to diverge. How much truth was there to each of their tales? Simon knew the best liars always added a kernel of it to their empty promises. Either way, both Verney and the twins had to go, for the sake of his revenge and that of the world.

"Until then, we must secure the remaining Zodiac crystals," Verney said, meeting Simon's gaze.

"You mentioned you knew the Scorpion's and Minotaur's locations?" So he knew Simon had given the Archer's location to the sisters, which meant he could likely spy through his office's door. He'd better keep that in mind or move his operations somewhere else.

"Shouldn't I keep the information for myself?" Simon countered.

"The fewer people in the know, the better."

"We both know the Prince of Spiders will come for that intel, and then you will be hard-pressed to reveal it under threat of blackmail," Verney replied with a thin smile, his hand moving to his chest.

"Have I not already poured out my heart to you? I have given you knowledge that could ruin me." I'm sure you have a thousand escape plans and hideouts to run to. Simon knew Verney wouldn't have given his true identity away if he wasn't ready to discard it on a moment's notice.

"I still need insurance that you're serious," Simon insisted. He pointed at the Attic's door.

"How do you create those?"

"It is an ability unique to my other half, as is the creation of my fetches. No one else can do it, as far as I know." Verney nodded to himself.

"What I can do is give you a map of the pathways, and permission to use them as you wish."

"That should do." Simon had no doubt the map would be incomplete, but he already had plans to fill its holes with Hector's help.

"I will keep the Minotaur's location a secret for myself for now, just in case, but the Scorpion… it is in a secure place."

"There is no place in this world that can keep the Rogue away forever, and the Scorpion is among the vilest signs of the Zodiac." Verney leaned forward with interest.

"Where is it? We might be able to reinforce its defenses." I doubt that.

"A dungeon hidden beneath Castle Carcas in the Berwick Islands. My father hid the entrance in his dead wife's tomb." Simon could have sworn Verney suppressed a smile of bemusement at the news, which betrayed a hint of his true self.

"There must be a morbid story behind it. Does the Commander know?"

"My father kept that a secret from him," Simon replied.

"And it is a dangerous Dungeon from what I learned in Balzam's notes. I would not explore it without significant preparations."

"We will keep that in mind. Is there anything else special about that place?"

"No." Simon smiled behind his face-concealing helmet.

"Not that I know of."